Valley Not Exempt from Church Crisis Close to Home: Brownsville Diocese Named in Sexual Assault Claims

By Emma Perez-Trevino
Brownsville Herald
April 7, 2002

While the national focus has been on atrocious indiscretions of Roman Catholic
priests located primarily on the East Coast, records here show the Rio Grande
Valley�s Catholic diocese is facing its own set problems regarding priests and
their behavior.

But like dioceses around the country, the Diocese of Brownsville and its
attorneys say the formal complaints of misconduct and other challenges have no
legal ground against the church and should not be in court. They say the
church must be allowed to police itself.

Still, the local diocese has dealt with various accusations and has paid
out-of-court settlements over the last few decades worth about $425,000,
according to diocese officials. Others believe the diocese�s estimation is
modest and may have paid out much more.

The Brownsville Diocese, headed by Bishop Raymundo Pena, is one of the largest
in the state with approximately 800,000 Catholics in 100 parishes and missions
in Cameron, Willacy, Starr and Hidalgo counties. It literally has dozens of
priests criss-crossing the region.

Pena said now is a difficult time for the diocese and sought to reassure
Catholics and parishioners.

�We offer assurance that by the formal policy of the Diocese of Brownsville,
and by my personal pledge, we act immediately anytime an allegation of clergy
misconduct is registered,� Pena said.

But in two weeks, the Brownsville Diocese will be in Hidalgo County District
Court as the defendant in a case where a former Valley priest has been accused
of sexually assaulting a minor on several occasions from January 2000 to
February 2001. The diocese has said little about the accusations in relation
to its operations and 34-year-old Father Basil Chukwuma Onyia. The diocese
points to the separation of church and state in a civil lawsuit filed in April
last year in a Hidalgo County District Court by the young girl and her mother
against the diocese and Onyia.

�(The Constitution) mandates that government and religion remain separate and
accordingly forbids the government from interfering with the right of
hierarchical religious bodies to establish their own internal rules and
regulations and create tribunals for adjudicating disputes over religious
matters,� the diocese maintains.

Onyia disappeared last summer in the middle of a criminal investigation that
the Pharr Police Department was conducting into the allegations.

Pharr police have not found Diocese of Brownsville officials, including the
bishop, to be as cooperative.

�It�s been like hitting a brick wall,� Lt. Guadalupe Salinas said. �Church
officials referred us to their legal counsel. That didn�t help anything.�

Investigators planned to send a letter directly to Pena asking if he has any
information regarding Onyia�s whereabouts.

�The suspect was here when the investigation was going on but he left when he
apparently got wind of it,� Salinas said.

And as sexual allegations against pedophile priests and cover-ups by their
superiors surface from the East to West coasts, Pena pledged in a prepared
statement issued during Holy Week that the diocese continues to do everything
in its power to safeguard the well being and safety of children.

But Mission attorney Fernando Mancias � who represents the minor girl that
accuses Onyia of assaulting her� claims that the diocese has and continues ��
to cover up the incidents of priest sexual abuse of minors and prevent
disclosure, prosecution and civil litigation.�

Mancias, with the Magallanes, Hinojosa and Mancias law firm, said the diocese
has done this by denying the abuse, spoiling evidence, reassigning abusive
priests, and applying religious coercion while breaching the trust and
confidence of victims.

Mancias alleges that the diocese was negligent in hiring and allowing Onyia to
remain as a parish priest at the Basilica de San Juan Shrine in San Juan and
to later transfer him to Harlingen � when it knew or should have known of his
sexual pedophilic propensities.

Onyia also served at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in
Harlingen.

The diocese states in court documents that Onyia was not transferred from San
Juan to Harlingen because of sexual misconduct allegations.

�The transfer was made considering the needs of the (diocese) and where Father
Onyia might best serve at that time,� court documents filed by the diocese
state.

Mancias� clients are seeking monetary damages against the diocese and Onyia,
but the amount is not noted in court documents.

The diocese, through attorneys David C. Garza of Brownsville and Edmundo O.
Ramirez of McAllen, denies all the allegations, denies that it is liable for
the alleged actions of another and counters that the case brought against it
does not belong in court.

Presiding Judge Noe Gonzalez has set a hearing regarding the court�s
jurisdiction for 8 a.m. April 19 in the Hidalgo County District Court in
Edinburg.

In recent statements, Pena said that the diocese offers prayers for the
victims and asks God�s mercy and forgiveness for the priests who failed to
uphold the deep trust placed in them by God and by the people.

�We are equally saddened by the wound that has been inflicted on the Church by
this scandal, especially in light of the fact that the number of priests who
have fallen is small while the vast majority of priests have remained faithful
to their exalted calling and who deserve the continued trust of the people,�
Pena said.

When an allegation of clergy misconduct is registered, Pena said the diocese
immediately reacts.

�We do all that we can to insure fairness to both the alleged victim and the
accused,� Pena said. �I wish everyone to know that we periodically have
training sessions with our priests about these matters, and have one scheduled
in the near future.�

Furthermore, candidates for the priesthood are submitted to careful
psychological screening, he said.

Devout Catholic and longtime resident of El Ranchito Francis Domanski�s
respect for the Catholic Church and the clergy has been unwavering since she
was a child and in these times of turmoil.

�A lot of kids make up things and it goes on down the line. Sometimes it�s
true and sometimes it�s not. A priest might say something and people take it
the wrong way. I still respect priests and the Church,� Domanski said.

While the church reels under a barrage of accusations, some reaching back
decades, law enforcement officials say few, if any, incidents involving this
type of abuse are ever reported.

�But I am sure there have been some instances of abuse but have not been fully
investigated because in most cases, who is going to believe that a priest
would touch a child in an inappropriate way?� Hidalgo County District Attorney
Rene Guerra said.